34 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[August, 



[For Wagner's American Bee Journal.] 



How my Bees Wintered ? 



M/r. Editor : — I see by the Journal that the 

 loss of bees throughout the northwest is very 

 general. Through this section of the country I 

 should judge that three-fourths of the bees have 

 gone the way of all earth. I do not think it was 

 their honey, as they did not have, last fall, any 

 in their hives, as there was no honey gathered in 

 this section after the middle of September, or at 

 least not more than was used in the daily con- 

 sumption. The honey here was so thick that 

 when the thermometer was below 65°, it was 

 very hard to extract, and then took and required 

 very rapid turning with a geared machine, and 

 a machine without gearing would not empty it 

 successfully without long turning. 



The late gathered honey here was from flowers 

 that bees do not in ordinary seasons work on to 

 a great extent, and the late gathered honey ap- 

 peared to have an acid taste. As a general rule, 

 bees that have been put in winter quarters have 

 suffered the worst. One man, who for years has 

 wintered successfully in doors, this last year lost 

 all he had, between 50 and 60 stocks. The best 

 wintered and least loss were those on their sum- 

 mer stands, with a wind-brake of some kind 

 around them, and the honeyboards taken off 

 and dry corncobs put on the frames, and a com- 

 mon newspaper put over the cobs to stop excess 

 of upward ventilation, with the entrance closed 

 pretty small. So far the spring has been very 

 cold and backward, and a great many bees have 

 left their hives, and a sudden change would chill 

 them so they never returned ; and we have had 

 more high cold winds than usual this spring, so 

 that a great many swarms are not now any 

 stronger than they were a month ago. 



Would it not be a good idea if beekeepers 

 would get as near as possible the loss in their 

 respective neighborhoods, and report through 

 the Journal? Last fall I had 65 stocks, good, 

 bad and indifferent ; now I have 35 hives, with 

 more or less bees, some weak and some very 

 strong ; but as soon as the weather gets warmer, 

 I shall equalize and commence artificial increase, 

 as I. have plenty empty comb at present. 



E. R. Murphy. 



Fulton, 111, May 13, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Hives. 



Mr. Editor : — In speaking of bee hives, I 

 would say they are getting to be a nuisance. 

 There are so many now in this country that, after 

 awhile, there will be nothing about them to get a 

 patent on, except name, nail-holes, and the num- 

 ber of ventilating holes in it. The same old 

 claims have been patented over and over again, 

 till the country is flooded with hives. A great 

 many hives are patented that are no better than 

 the common box hive, and often prove a step 

 backward in bee-keeping than a step forward. 

 Such hives will flourish for awhile, but most 



beekeepers will come back to the Longstroth 

 hive, which, I think, has induced some to make 

 their hives as near like his as possible. 



If there is any improvement to be made, let it 

 be made, hut do not rush to the Patent Office with 

 every little improvement that is made. If it 

 were not for this, bee-keeping would be farther 

 advanced than it is ; for instance, a man wishes 

 to begin bee-keeping, he goes to several "hive 

 sellers'" to ask their advice about purchasing a 

 hive ; each one has the best hive (in his own 

 opinion), and all want to sell him a hive. He is 

 puzzled which one to buy, and don't take any. 



When I first saw the American hive I thought 

 it was just the thing, but I have tested it and 

 would like very much to get rid of it. There 

 are several disadvantages : — It cannot be opened 

 and closed without killing some of the bees — it 

 is a very cold hive, and unless well protected in 

 winter the bees would suffer — it is a miserable 

 side-opening hive, which I, like Novice, now 

 detest, and wish I had never introduced it. 



The Buckeye is another, which, last season, I 

 thought the best hive in the Universe, but I have 

 chang d my opinion since last winter. It is an 

 extremely cold hive, for it has too much space 

 between the frames and the body of the hive, 

 and the bees do not winter in them well ; and 

 unless it is a strong stock, it will not be very 

 likely to get through. 



Many say that the Laugstroth hive is too flat, 

 and the bees cannot get to their stores without 

 leaving the cluster, consequently they do not 

 winter well in them. I do not know whether 

 bees can get their stores or not, but I do know I 

 had bees in two of them for six years, and they 

 are in them yet, and have always wintered on 

 their summer stands, and have always come 

 through strong. I am going to use it altogether 

 after this, but I do not know how to dispose of 

 the other hives. 



C. E. WlDENEB. 



Cumberland, Mel. 



[For the American Bee Journal] 



Artificial vs. Natural Swarming. 



Mr. Editor :— We see that many persons, 

 especially new beginners, do not see the advan- 

 tages of* artificial swarming. We can swarm 

 artificially and keep our colonies, old and young, 

 all full and strong, and will increase faster, gather 

 more honey, and protect themselves against 

 moths and other enemies and be in better con- 

 dition for wintering ; while, if left to natural 

 swarming, some will swarm themselves worthless 

 by becoming too weak, and being without fertile 

 queens. Many persons do not understand that 

 when bees swarm naturally they are without a 

 laying queen often from twelve to seventeen days, 

 and that a good prolific queen, under favorable 

 circumstances, in that time will lay enough eggs 

 for a swarm of bees. See what amount of young 

 bees we lose by letting them swarm naturally, 

 besides the many other disadvantages. There 

 are many different modes of artificial swarming. 

 I use the following : I have my queen cells 



